CoASH and CoASSG levels in lungs of hyperoxic rats as potential biomarkers of intramitochondrial oxidant stresses.

Coenzyme A (CoASH) is compartmentalized preferentially in the mitochondria, and CoASH and its mixed disulfide with glutathione (CoASSG) undergo thiol/disulfide exchange reactions with glutathione (GSH) and glutathione disulfide (GSSG) in vitro. We measured CoASH and CoASSG in freeze-clamped lung tissues from Fischer-344 and Sprague-Dawley rats maintained in room air or exposed to >95% O(2) for 48 h to test the hypothesis that oxidant stresses on lung thiol status would be observed in the CoASH/CoASSG redox couple, suggesting oxidant stress responses in the mitochondria. Lung tissue concentrations of CoASSG in the Fischer-344 rats declined from 0.89 +/- 0.15 to 0.51 +/- 0.13 nmol/g of lung after 48 h of hyperoxia. CoASH levels declined from 6.40 +/- 0.84 to 3.0 +/- 0.65 nmol/g of lung, and acetyl CoA levels also were lower in the lungs of animals exposed to hyperoxia. CoASH/CoASSG ratios were lower in animals exposed to hyperoxia, satisfying our previously defined criteria for an oxidant stress on this thiol/disulfide redox couple, but absolute CoASSG levels were not increased, as would be expected for oxidant stresses driven simply by increases in reactive oxygen species or other oxidants. Pulmonary edema was observed in the hyperoxic rats and accounted for some of the declines in CoASH concentrations, but CoASH contents per total lung also declined. Lung mitochondrial succinate dehydrogenase activities were not diminished in rats exposed to hyperoxia, indicating that the decreases in CoASH concentrations are not attributable to general destruction of lung mitochondria. Lung GSSG contents were greater in the hyperoxia animals, but GSH/GSSG ratios, which are dominated by extramitochondrial pools, did not decrease in these animals. The mechanisms responsible for, and the possible pathophysiologic consequences of, the decreases in lung CoASH concentrations are not evident from the data available at the present time, but the loss of more than half the tissue contents of CoASH is likely to generate additional metabolic effects that could have significant pathophysiologic consequences.